Alcohol benefits skip a beat? Potential atrial fibrillation link

Moderate alcohol consumption may be a double-edged sword when it comes to heart health, according to a recent meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Researchers with the University of Tsukuba Institute of Clinical Medicine in Ibaraki, Japan found a dose-response relationship between alcohol consumption and the risk of atrial fibrillation — a chronic heart beat irregularity — after analyzing data from 14 case-control studies, totalling approximately 131,000 participants. The researchers determined that those whose alcohol consumption was over 2 drinks daily for men or 1 drink daily for women had a 51% increased risk of atrial fibrillation, compared to teetotalers. For every additional ten grams of alcohol consumed — about half the amount in one drink — the relative risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF) increased by 8 percent.

Previous studies show that moderate alcohol consumption is actually associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, but the new data suggest the same is not true for protecting against AF. AF is a risk factor for blood clotting in the upper chambers of the heart known as the atria and is the most common form of heart arrhythmia. The study does not, however, prove that alcohol consumption causes AF.

After reading the parameters of the meta-analysis, ACSH’s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan was reminded of the decrease in alcohol intake over the past few decades in the U.S. “I was surprised to see more than two or more drinks categorized in the highest level of consumption,” she said, “considering that amount used to be considered the status quo for an average man to ingest during a business lunch years ago.”